New data published Thursday by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) underline how rapidly the country’s demographic profile is changing. As of 31 December 2024—figures released 22 January 2026 after final validation—1,094,089 foreign citizens held legal residence in Czechia, equivalent to 10 percent of the total population. The foreign-resident community grew by more than 28,000 in a single year and accounted for virtually all net population growth.
Ukrainians remain by far the largest group (approx. 594,000), followed by Slovaks (124,000), Vietnamese (69,000) and Russians (38,000). Prague is now 25 percent foreign-born, a proportion comparable to Vienna and higher than Berlin. The data confirm what employers already know: without inward migration, the labour market would be shrinking by 40,000 workers annually due to retirements.
Companies grappling with these demographic shifts can streamline mobility workflows by partnering with VisaHQ’s Czech Republic desk (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/). The platform handles end-to-end processing for employee cards, blue cards and business visas, secures scarce appointment slots, and provides real-time status tracking—giving HR teams the bandwidth to focus on project delivery instead of paperwork.
![Foreign nationals now make up 10 % of Czech population, says statistics office]()
For corporate-mobility teams the numbers have several practical implications. First, demand for employee-card and blue-card appointments is unlikely to ease; companies should continue to factor six-month lead times into project staffing. Second, municipalities—especially in Prague and Brno—are lobbying for the forthcoming Residence Act to make EU-citizen registration compulsory from 2027, which would tighten compliance duties for intra-company transferees.
The statistics also feed into the political debate. The new Babiš government’s coalition partner, Freedom & Direct Democracy (SPD), is calling for quotas on non-EU hiring, but industry associations point to the ČSÚ tables as evidence that foreign labour is already critical to GDP growth. Any sudden restrictions could therefore hit manufacturing output and shared-services expansion plans.
Mobility managers should brief senior leadership that, while public rhetoric may harden, the demographic reality gives business a strong argument for maintaining—if not expanding—skilled-worker programmes such as the Highly-Qualified Employee Scheme and the Digital-Nomad Pilot.
Ukrainians remain by far the largest group (approx. 594,000), followed by Slovaks (124,000), Vietnamese (69,000) and Russians (38,000). Prague is now 25 percent foreign-born, a proportion comparable to Vienna and higher than Berlin. The data confirm what employers already know: without inward migration, the labour market would be shrinking by 40,000 workers annually due to retirements.
Companies grappling with these demographic shifts can streamline mobility workflows by partnering with VisaHQ’s Czech Republic desk (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/). The platform handles end-to-end processing for employee cards, blue cards and business visas, secures scarce appointment slots, and provides real-time status tracking—giving HR teams the bandwidth to focus on project delivery instead of paperwork.
For corporate-mobility teams the numbers have several practical implications. First, demand for employee-card and blue-card appointments is unlikely to ease; companies should continue to factor six-month lead times into project staffing. Second, municipalities—especially in Prague and Brno—are lobbying for the forthcoming Residence Act to make EU-citizen registration compulsory from 2027, which would tighten compliance duties for intra-company transferees.
The statistics also feed into the political debate. The new Babiš government’s coalition partner, Freedom & Direct Democracy (SPD), is calling for quotas on non-EU hiring, but industry associations point to the ČSÚ tables as evidence that foreign labour is already critical to GDP growth. Any sudden restrictions could therefore hit manufacturing output and shared-services expansion plans.
Mobility managers should brief senior leadership that, while public rhetoric may harden, the demographic reality gives business a strong argument for maintaining—if not expanding—skilled-worker programmes such as the Highly-Qualified Employee Scheme and the Digital-Nomad Pilot.
